Pillars of the Earth

Okay, I finally have another book to add. I am feeling like a slacker since this is the first one in April, and April is half over. Granted, this book is just shy of 1000 pages long, and I've been super busy with life stuff, but I like to move through the books a little faster than this. On the upside, this is the 30th book of 2012. This important since I vowed to read more this year than last year, and last year I read 30 books. I basically only need to read one more to beat last year. Of course, I'll be reading more than that in 2012.

I really liked this book. It takes place in the Middle Ages in England. It follows the family of Tom Builder, his allies, and their opponents over four decades. Priests, monks, earls, knights, kings, and craftsmen are all integral to this story, and the story involves lies, murder, rape, and any number of smaller offenses. Much of the story revolves around Prior Phillip's desire to have a large cathedral built at his priory, Kingsbridge. He initially hires Tom Builder to build it, but he was killed in a raid. His son, Alfred Builder, takes over, but his design collapses. After several years, Tom's disgraced stepson, Jack Jackson, returns to Kingsbridge and eventually builds a church like has never been seen in England. Although the book is long and a few passages about architecture get boring, it's an engaging read overall.

I was reading it at the hotel 2 weeks ago, and a guest mentioned that there was a mini-series based on the book. I looked it up last night after finishing the book and discovered that, sadly, the 8 part series is not on Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube. That's a little disappointing, but the book is probably better anyway.